“It Required Lots of Energy from Me and I Didn’t Feel I Received Much in Return”: Perceptions of Educarers Who Dropped Out of the Ministry of Education’s Training Course Towards Their Dropping Out

This study explores dropout from professional training programs for early childhood educarers from the perspective of those who left a national training course before completion—a viewpoint previously unexamined in Israel or internationally. While dropout has been studied in various educational contexts, this study addresses the research gap by focusing on the participants themselves. Based on semi-structured interviews with 15 educarers from four training colleges, the study identifies four key themes: (1) the challenge of learning in heterogeneous groups combining beginners and veterans that overlook prior experience; (2) the physical and emotional strain of attending evening classes after full workdays, particularly for mothers of young children; (3) disappointment with the lack of practical tools and an overly theoretical curriculum; and (4) the absence of emotional and professional support mechanisms during the course. These findings highlight a systemic misalignment between the structure of the training and participants’ lived realities. The study expands the job demands–resources model by framing dropout as an outcome of imbalanced responsibility across participants, training institutions, and workplaces. It calls for differentiated, context-sensitive training that integrates practical tools with theoretical content and provides sustained support to strengthen professional capacity and retention in the early childhood workforce.